Sam Elliott, Tom Selleck, and Jeff Osterhage had such a good time doing this project together, they reunited on another Louis L'Amour story, The Shadow Riders (1982).
Legendary actor Glenn Ford is credited with being one of the fastest guns in Hollywood westerns; able to draw and fire in 0.4 seconds. He was faster than James Arness (Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke (1955)) and John Wayne. Peter Breck (Nick Barkley of The Big Valley (1965)) has been credited by Wild Western Magazine as being able to draw and fire in .16 seconds.
Called The Daybreakers in Australia.
L.Q.Jones plays Belden. In the Virginian TV series, L.Q.Jones plays a cowhand also named Belden, working on the Shiloh ranch.
As with many movies based on a book, there are a number of changes. One involves when Tyrell wants to get a bath in Santa Fe. He finds a building with a number of barrels full of soapy water. So, he strips down and climbs in. As he is washing, some women come in with loads of laundry. Tyrell had inadvertently found the local laundry. Needless to say, he didn't tell Orrin about this and Orrin is perplexed as the women will look at Tyrell and start giggling. This bothers Orrin more as he is normally the ladies man.